An upstate New York fire department says a firefighter on vacation saved three girls who were caught in a rip current in North Carolina. The firefighter and medic, Sean O’Gorman, was in the Outer Banks when he saw two teenagers in the water struggling to get back to shore, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday. Another girl went out to help them and became stuck, too. O’Gorman said he ran to the family to see what their plan was, then decided to swim out into what he expected was a rip current. The Oswego, New York, emergency responder used a forceful crawl stroke he learned in water rescue training. An estimated 100 people are killed by rip currents each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. O’Gorman said the girls did not panic and remained calm.

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. —

An upstate New York fire department says a firefighter on vacation saved three girls who were caught in a rip current in North Carolina.

The firefighter and medic, Sean O’Gorman, was in the Outer Banks when he saw two teenagers in the water struggling to get back to shore, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday. Another girl went out to help them and became stuck, too.

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O’Gorman said he ran to the family to see what their plan was, then decided to swim out into what he expected was a rip current.

The Oswego, New York, emergency responder used a forceful crawl stroke he learned in water rescue training.

An estimated 100 people are killed by rip currents each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.